Scott Fillmer

ESPN College GameDay is coming back to Auburn for the Auburn vs LSU game on Saturday, September 20, 2008.  This will be the first time that ESPN’s traveling show will be in Auburn since the Auburn vs Florida game in 2006 when the Auburn Tigers beat the Florida Gators 27-17.   Auburn vs LSU is always a great, nail biting game, and this year, Auburn will welcome ESPN commentators Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard as they setup shop, presumably just outside Jordan-Hare stadium, where they will broadcast live from 9-11am local CT.

Some Auburn ESPN College Game Day Facts

From Auburn pre-game report.  ESPN’s College GameDay Built by Home Depot featuring Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard will be in Auburn this weekend for the Auburn-LSU game. It will mark the fifth visit to Auburn by the GameDay crew, which last visited for the 2006 Auburn-Florida game. Auburn also hosted GameDay for the 1995 Iron Bowl, a 1997 game against Florida and a 2004 game against Georgia. GameDay was scheduled to be at the Auburn-LSU game on Sept. 18, 2004, but the threat of Hurricane Ivan forced the show to be relocated.

It will be the ninth time that Auburn has played in GameDay’s on-site game. The Tigers are 5-3 in GameDay contests, including a 3-1 mark at home.

Listed are Auburn’s all-time appearances on GameDay.

Date Result Game (Site)
Sept. 16, 2006 W, 27-17 vs. Florida (Auburn)
Dec. 4, 2004 W, 38-28 vs. Tennessee (Atlanta)
Nov. 13, 2004 W, 24-6 vs. Georgia (Auburn)
Oct. 2, 2004 W, 34-10 at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Oct. 18, 1997 L, 10-24 vs. Florida (Auburn)
Nov. 23, 1996 L, 23-24 vs. Alabama (B’ham)
Nov. 18, 1995 W, 31-27 vs. Alabama (Auburn)
Nov. 19, 1994 L, 14-21 vs. Alabama (B’ham)

College GameDay 2006, Auburn vs Florida

Back in 2006 we were living in Colorado and I flew into Atlanta from Denver for the football game against Florida.  Although Les Corso has not always seen Auburn orange and blue in the past, that weekend I did get  to sit down with Corso for a short while and discuss the finer points of Auburn football. It is always exciting to have ESPN GameDay in Auburn and that year was no exception.  2006 was one of those crazy seasons where everyone was mumbling about the BCS ranking system and, especially here in Auburn, people were wondering how we were all going to get our fair shake at the BCS title.  We ended up loosing two games, Georgia and Arkansas but did beat LSU (photos below) and went on to the Cotton Bowl that year.

At that time, I had already spoken with many people throughout the years who had run into Les Corso (and some of the Game Day crew) and their stories varied wildly.  Of course I ran into Corso not at the game, but early Sunday morning in the Atlanta airport on my way through security, and shared a train ride to the gate with him.  I doubt I will share the same ride this year since I now live in Auburn, but I never believed all those nasty rumors about you anyway Lee (haha), and I enjoyed our 10-15 minute conversation together.

My only regret was not bringing my camera equipment to Auburn with me for GameDay.  Well not this year. This year I will be right in the thick of it with my camera equipment to bring the first blog photos of ESPN College GameDay on September 20th from here in Auburn.  So if you are interested, come back here between the end of GameDay and the start of the LSU game on Saturday (some time between 12noon and 4pm CT) for some photos of the broadcast.

Auburn vs LSU is always dramatic fun, and having ESPN GameDay back in Auburn will only add to the excitement.  The photos shown above were taken from the last Auburn vs LSU home game in 2006 when Auburn won 7-3, not much unlike last week vs Mississippi State.  The last shot, towering over the line, was #77 King Dunlap during pre-game warm up (yes my one and only [so far] field appearance on the sidelines).

I am looking forward to the ESPN crew coming down to the plains and I hope everyone makes Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard all feel welcome here in Auburn, even if Corso does pull out a big yellow and purple tiger head at the end.  If he does, I will post the photo right here for all to see.

See you back here on Saturday, go Tigers (Auburn that is).